The Legend of the Creation of Imarel
by T.A. Saunders ©2010 v1.0 It is not known when exactly the Cosmos formed, or by whose will it was that life finally exist where there had been nothingness. Chaos had reigned for more ages than the mortal mind could possibly comprehend. At some moment Order began shaping things out the perfect void of Chaos and in so doing, provoked Chaos into destroying all Order attempted to create. Order and Chaos manifested themselves in the form of gods that would rule over the Cosmos, ever in conflict with one another. The Gods of Order were many as were the Gods of Chaos and they fought one another across the vast universe. Wherever a deity was slain in the War of Gods, a galaxy was born. The remains of one such deity’s heart became the world of Imarel after all the deity’s essence was spent and nothing remained of them save this one bit that could not be destroyed. The Cosmos had become littered with the shattered essence of so many vanquished gods, that a truce was called amongst them. Only a handful of the Gods of Order and Neutrality remained, Kaal and Zorah, then Meklah and Uronous, and Nine of the Gods of Chaos. While it would seem that the Gods of Chaos outnumbered the Gods of Order and Neutrality, the Gods of Order had powerful servants called Asyndi that flew into battle upon massive Astral Wyrms that more than balanced the conflict. In this Truce of Cosmic Balance, Chaos would always have the opportunity to touch any and all life Order would create from it. Whatever would bloom, would eventually wither, where water flowed, at some point there would be desert and wherever intelligent life formed, the opportunity to become corrupt would exist. So set the stage for life and the future of Imarel as well as countless other worlds the gods would attempt to share. Imarel was mother to two moons; the molten Vocoria (which would later be destroyed by Tashalasheeri) and the watery Ishaela. Life began to flourish upon Imarel with great splendor and beauty and with it, three races emerged and claimed the land, sea and sky. The Zissah, who rose from the reptiles of the sea, the Van`Su, who rose from the birds of the sky and the Masar who rose from the shadows upon the ground. These three peoples began cultivating the world and began interacting with one another peacefully for countless centuries. The Zissah kept to the South, the Van`Su kept to the North and the Masar kept to the dark places of the world, plotting and preparing for the war that the black taint in their hearts demanded. The Masar were agents of Chaos, masters of deception and frolicked with the joy murder brought them. Despite their joy for bloodshed, they knew they could not defeat the Zissah and the Van`Su together. So it was that the Masar spent much time with the reptiles of the South and showed them their gods and showed them the power Chaos could bring. One by one, cities of the Zissah fell to the subtle corruption of Chaos; the people began worshiping the Nine Dark Lords of Chaos with rampant zealotry as they reveled in the power it brought them. Hungry for the meat of conquest, the Masar deceivers lured the Zissah into a campaign against the Van`Su and quickly the war that Chaos craved was set upon Imarel for the first time. The Van`Su, hopelessly outnumbered, prayed to the Gods of Order, Kaal and Zorah to help them in this moment of dire need. Since Chaos had placed its children on Imarel in the form of the Masar, the Gods of Order felt no restrictions on sending the Asyndi and their Astral Wyrms to lay waste to the aggressors against the Van`Su. But the Nine Lords of Chaos thought this was a breach of the Truce and showed the Masar how to call up the most powerful of their servants — immense Arch-Fiends that would later become known as the Forgotten Ones. The Zissah learned many dark rites themselves and had part in unleashing unnamable monstrosities against the joined forces of the immortal Asyndi, the Astral Wyrms and the Van`Su. The details of the War of Twilight are known in vague parts; Order and Chaos fought over Imarel through their servants in much the same manner as they did themselves countless ages ago, though at the end of the war Zorah herself appeared to strike down Gurhjuua the Witchflame and more than a few of the Lords of Chaos appeared to ply their pawns directly. The mightiest heroes of this first war would ascend and become the first Spirits of Imarel; representatives of the Gods of Order and Chaos that would have a more direct hand in Imarel’s terrestrial affairs rather than risking another war of deities upon the world. But as heroes from both sides of the war ascended, there were those who fell from grace as well. Because of the arrogance and doubt of Hazaad the Asyndi Champion, he and those who followed him fell from immortality and the blessing of the gods Kaal and Zorah. The Astral Wyrms would also suffer this same fate, for the blind and forbidden love Tashalasheeri shared with the Champion, but not before she would make Kaal himself bleed and obliterate the moon Vocoria in her bitter and defiant rage. The Masar would be stricken by the Lords of Chaos for their failure to bring them the conquest they were bred for, warping and twisting them into broken shells of their former selves. The Zissah, terrified by what their dark masters had done to the Masar (who would now become known as the Masoq), shed all mantles of worship to them and forever gave themselves to the Spirit of Serenity, in hopes of purifying themselves from the evil that had seeped within their souls. Upon the conclusion of this war, the Age of Twilight ended and the board had been set with new pawns for the Gods of Order and Chaos to wage their precariously balanced conflict of control for Imarel. This eternal struggle continues to this day through the wars mortal races wage with one another and through the whispers of gods into the ears of the most devout or the most hungry for power.